A Florida student has died after being fatally shot by a woman he had pulled over to help, police have revealed.
As reported by NBC News, the Clay County Sheriff's Office has revealed that 22-year-old college student Adam Simjee was traveling through Alabama with his girlfriend, Mikayla Paulus, last Sunday.
The couple - both students at the University of Central Florida - was driving through Talladega National Forest near Cheaha State Park when they spotted a woman signaling for help at the side of the road.
The woman - identified by authorities as suspect Yasmine Hider - informed the couple that her car had broken down.
However, the sheriff said Hider was actually intending to rob the couple and "produced a gun and made the couple walk back into the woods".
A gunfight then broke out when Simjee pulled a concealed handgun of his own. Authorities say Simjee fired in self-defense and was able to wound Hider "multiple times". Even so, Simjee was also shot by Hider and died at the scene.
His girlfriend, Paulus, then dialed 911 and informed authorities that Hider was with another woman.
Eventually, Hider and the other woman were found by searchers at their camp roughly half a mile away. The sheriff says the suspects had been "living off the grid". The second suspect was named as Krystal Diane Pinkins.
Pinkins' five-year-old child was also found at the camp.
When officers ordered Pinkins to the ground, "a 5-year-old child ran from the woods holding a loaded shotgun", the sheriff revealed. "Law enforcement told the child to put the shotgun down however the child continued to the female's location before laying the gun on the ground."
NBC reports that jail records show that 36-year-old Pinkins was booked into custody on suspicion of endangering the welfare of a child, murder, two counts of kidnapping, and two counts of robbery. Meanwhile, the sheriff has stated that Hider was transported to a hospital in Birmingham and will eventually be jailed on suspicion of murder, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of robbery.
Following Simjee's death, a GoFundMe was launched in an attempt to cover his funeral costs and help Paulus with counseling and "other expenses as she tries to move forward."
The fundraiser was launched by Pilar Renteria, who writes in the description: "Due to the investigation and upcoming court proceedings, we can no longer share the details of what occurred. We can tell you that Adam was an intelligent, hard-working, humble, and loving human being. He was taken from us on Sunday afternoon while traveling with his girlfriend of 4 years, Mikayla.
"Adam was just 22. He had his whole life ahead of him with Mikayla. With them being so young, no one prepares for things like this, especially at such a young age."
More than $15,000 has been raised, as of this writing.
